Chocolate & Subs, Maple & Money

Winter tends to be a slow time at the library. It's hard to plan events when the weather so often interferes. Our weekly Preschool Story Hour has managed to meet most Fridays, but the monthly Writers' Group was snowed out two months in a row.

One exception to the February doldrums is our Friends of the Library group's annual Death By Chocolate fundraiser. This year, the combined efforts of bake sale and auction brought in over $3,500 to benefit the library. We managed to have decent weather that day! I am extremely grateful to all the Friends for their efforts on our library's behalf, and to everyone who participated in any way.

The contest judging yielded the following results:

Best in Show

Melanie Reckner's "Chocolate Mousse Cups" (pictured)

Candy category:

1st: Melanie Reckner's "Chocolate Mousse Cups"

2nd: tie between Ken Warnick's "Mom's Chocolate Walnut Fudge" and Grace Oakes' Chocolate Truffles.

3rd: Tarrah Cox's Strawberry Cheesecake Delight

Cakes & Pies Category:

1st: Linda Ringler's "Triple Chocolate Cheesecake"

2nd: tie between Tarrah Cox's "Chocolate Strawberry Delight" and Grace Oakes' "Guinness Chocolate Cake"

3rd: Betty Christy's "A Note to Lost Love" chocolate cake

Cookies & Bars Category:

1st: Fay Hajel's "Mississippi Mud Bars."

2nd: Grace Oakes' "Chocolate Cheesecake Bars"

3rd: Elizabeth Vogel's "Chocolate Ganache Brownies"

Even as Death by Chocolate was underway, the Friends were launching their next fundraiser. Back by popular demand, the Friends are having another Marianna's sub and pizza sale. The order/payment deadline is Friday, March 14. Item pick-up is Tuesday, March 25 between noon and 2PM.

Of course, the entire town is looking forward to Spring's arrival in March, and we hope the weather will reflect the season. Beyond March, April will bring us Maple Festival. We're always certain to have a good Maple book display at that time, with maple-themed books you are encouraged to check out!

April is Financial Literacy Month. On Tuesday, April 8 at 6:15 PM, a representative from Somerset Trust Company will be at our library to present a program about Avoiding Fraud & Scams. It seems like there's a new scam appearing every day, but there things you can do to avoid losing your money to scammers! We encourage you to register for this informative program by March 25.

Also in April, staff from the Somerset County Library will be presenting a series of five one-hour sessions for children to teach them about earning and using money. Thinking Money for Kids will be held on Tuesdays at 4:30 PM, beginning on April 22. It is designed for ages 3-12, and it is FREE.

And so library life moves forward with chocolate & subs, maple & money. As the year progresses, there will be more and more going on at the library. We hope you will visit us, to attend a program and/or just to borrow some books and/or DVDs!

The Library Lady